19 Aug 2011

AUG. 19 •Kim will not be defending her title at the US Open at the end of this month. Exercises and additional tests have indicated that Kim's torn abdominal muscle is not healing fast enough. She will now focus on 2012.

Kim is back in Belgium since Thursday. She felt her abdominal injury was not getting better and wanted to have some additional tests done and asked for for her osteopath, Sam Verslegers' opinion.

His verdict is clear. 'In theory we would only need three weeks to work towards a full recovery', Verslegers explains. 'Kim would then be able to compete in the US Open. A few examinations and tests have shown that three weeks will not be enough. It is inadvisable for her to play tennis in this situation. A torn muscle that doesn't get the chance to heal can only get worse and that would entail months of inactivity. We will continue treatment and once everything has healed completely we will slowly start upping the exercises.'

After already two injuries this year, this is yet another disappointment for Kim: 'I definitely don't want to make the injury worse! Pulling out of the US Open is yet another disappointment after training really hard this summer in order to be able to defend my title in the fourth grand slam of the year.'

'I am now focussing on 2012, on the Olympics. Who knows? This time I might make it trough without injuries and feel up for a last US Open. The most important thing right now is that I should make a full recovery, so I will also drop the rest of the season. I'll pick up training slowly and carefully and prepare for 2012, but without a specific time frame or pressure. I had two tournaments to go this autumn, but they are not worth the risk. I would not be able to get enough points to compete in the WTA Championship anyway.'

Kim is determined to be back in full swing in 2012. 'If later this year I manage to train like I have been training these last few weeks in the US, I know that shouldn't be a problem. I will definitely give it my all this autumn. My first test will be the Diamond Games in the Sportpaleis in Antwerp on December 8th. By the time I get to Australia in January, I want to be at my best again.'

10 Aug 2011

AUG. 10 •Bad luck for Kim again... At night in Toronto, Kim was leading Chinese qualifier Zheng Jie 6-3 1-2, when she had to retire from the match due to an abdominal injury.

'During my warm-up today I felt my left stomach muscle really, really tight', Kim said. 'Before the match I got taped to try and protect the muscle as much as possible, but it just went worse and worse. I already had an ultrasound here on-site, and I have a partial tear in my left stomach muscle. There are a few weeks left before the US Open. I'll do everything to be ready.'

This is what her coach Wim Fisette had to say: 'We won't make it for Cincinnati and hope she'll be able to take part in the US Open. Kim will remain in Toronto a few days to be treated. This is a real pity as we had been training really hard in the last couple of weeks.'

6 Aug 2011

AUG. 6• After almost two months, Kim is back on tennis courts as she is playing the Rogers Cup in Toronto next week. It will be her first of two preparation tournaments leading up to the US Open at the very end of the month.

The draw has been revealed in Toronto and here is what it looks like:

Kim gets a bye in the 1st round and will play a Jie Zheng in the 2nd round.

Things could get a lot trickier with a possible 3rd-round clash with Serena Williams (or Jelena Jankovic). Then comes a possible quarterfinal against Francesca Schiavone, before a semifinal against Sharapova/Azarenka/Bartoli.

Wozniacki, Li, Zvonareva & Kvitova are all in the top half of the draw.